HD160 - Suspension Alternatives to Fox - Advice needed!!

Hi,

I have a HD160 on order, and have just been told by my LBS that the 2012 Float 160's are out of stock, however, they are awaiting the new 2013 alternatives with the new 3 stage damping, which is a bit like pro pedal but for forks, so it was explained to me!

Thing is, they will not be available until June.

I have demo'd the HD160 with the standard Kashima RP23 and Float. In my brief demo, and brief set up, I found the forks to dive in corners, and the RP23 seemed really bouncy. I had to turn rebound all the way down. I put this down to set up, but, having spent some time here reading it seems many are not fans of Fox?

I have contacted BOS which were very helpful, and they can dispatch Deville and Vip'r next week, but it appears there is only one main contact/person/mobile number in the UK for them.

I am sure servicing etc should be ok with BOS, but, here in the UK, the Fox specailist, MOJO, are 20 mins drive from my house!!

Could anyone please offer some advice as to what the best options for me are?

I am approx 15st and tend to ride aggressively, black graded runs etc, but no big big jumps or drops etc. I do spend a greater percentage of my time XC if I am being honest.

Im not sure if I can wait any longer, ive already been without a bike for two months!!

well i am 17st loaded up, also from s/wales , i had the fox talas 160 fork which i found to be very poor in their performance coupled with oil needing changing every 20/30 hrs of riding they are now gone and replaced with a set of bos deville 160 non trc , personely i think the bos fork simple to set up and far superior in performance and feel , service only needed once per year and i found the after service night & day between r53 & mojo , go bos .

I don't get the fascination with fox. Average at best. Forks are often divey when you get them supple enough and rear shocks blow through travel when you get the sag right. I have a deville and Zoke 55 rc3 ti on my 160mm bike with a DBair out back. I have ridden an HD with Rp23 a few times and was underwhelmed but reckon with a DBair, Monarch, vivid air or Vip'r it would ride much better.

I don't get the fascination with fox. Average at best. Forks are often divey when you get them supple enough and rear shocks blow through travel when you get the sag right. I have a deville and Zoke 55 rc3 ti on my 160mm bike with a DBair out back. I have ridden an HD with Rp23 a few times and was underwhelmed but reckon with a DBair, Monarch, vivid air or Vip'r it would ride much better.

Bos forks are nice (and very expensive) but nothing beats the small bump compliance of Marzocchi forks. But Zokes are extremely painful to set up and needs everything right to get full travel (oil level, shim stack etc.). Fox Van's are nice and good around forks (a bit heavy for AM use). Lyrik with DH dampers are also good. You basically have to try as many as you can to figure out what you like.

FOX has been going downhill since the FIT cartridge arrived - the VAN used to be the benchmark performer (in my humble opinion).

I'm currently running a 55RC3 ti with a ti coil PUSH Vivid shock or PUSH Monarch RTAM shock. COULD NOT BE HAPPIER WITH THE PERFORMANCE. This set up is so far ahead of the stock FOX kit my HD was cursed I mean spec'd with.

If you are more "XC", I would go with all air - Lyrik RC2DH fork(keep your oil fresh) and a Monarch shock. That is a great, affordable air package. I ran that fork/shock last year. If you want traction traction traction traction traction - 55 fork with a low tune coil shock of your choice.

Have spoken with Fox importer/service and confirmed that the new 2013 Fox Float 36's will be RC2, not RLC, so that may improve the brake dive?

The RP23 will no longer exist for 2013, will be replaced with CTD (climb/trail/descend)??

I would assume that eventually IBIS will start shipping HD with this shock in the future?

They confirmed that my demo may have not been 100% great as the majority of RP23's were shipped with a light tune. They can revalve the RP23 for me for my weight which should improve it considerably? It could be the case that the new CTD shock will have a better tune due to the majority of people revalving their OEM RP23's, but probably a long timeline before IBIS start shipping with that shock?

I think the Marzochhi may be too heavy/ott for me/riding style?

Stll debating the BOS, but seem obliged to go for the VIP'r to match the Deville, which puts the cost up and still tad nervous on support?

The RockShox looks a good option? Would the 170mm travel of the Lyrik work ok for me? Is it too high? And which Monarch rear shock model is best?

I have the stock rp-23 with medium volume spacer installed. It performs fine for everyday all mountain riding, but sucks if you wanna go do some chair lift action. the volume spacer did make a huge difference though!

I also have a MARZ. 66 evo RC3 TI. I have a 2012 talas but I don't ride with it anymore now that I bought the Marz.. it's buttery smooth!

I have the Fox setup you are looking at and am not super stoked on it. Turning the rebound down like you did causes cavitation in the rear shock which means that it needs to be sent back to Fox on a regular basis. 36 Float is OK, but I had the chance to ride my bike with the Monarch Plus/Lyrik RC2DH and this will be on my bike very shortly. Was a fantastic setup and the bike felt much more controlled in the chunk. It was a night and day difference.

BTW the new Float will be going back to the damper found on the Van's with both rebound and compression damping.

I have the Fox setup you are looking at and am not super stoked on it. Turning the rebound down like you did causes cavitation in the rear shock which means that it needs to be sent back to Fox on a regular basis. 36 Float is OK, but I had the chance to ride my bike with the Monarch Plus/Lyrik RC2DH and this will be on my bike very shortly. Was a fantastic setup and the bike felt much more controlled in the chunk. It was a night and day difference.

BTW the new Float will be going back to the damper found on the Van's with both rebound and compression damping.

Now that is interesting as my Zesty's RP2 had to be sent back due to cavitation and I think it was happening again before I sold it??? I had to run the rebound low on that also!

I was talking with Jeff at Ibis about rebound as I didn't think my shock had enough slow rebound and he told me the HD doesn't perform well with a slow rebound, he said it works much better with a light rebound. After reading this and testing with mine he seems to be spot on as always.

Sounds like you don't want to wait, but I'll post this anyway. At SeaOtter the X-Fusion crew had a couple of new forks on display, including a 160mm 34 stantion model. Rated for 26'' or 650b out of the box, travel adjust an option, 15mm bolt. They're in Santa Cruz just like Ibis, and the Ibis guys told me they've been working together for awhile. In house customization will be an option.

Sounds like you don't want to wait, but I'll post this anyway. At SeaOtter the X-Fusion crew had a couple of new forks on display, including a 160mm 34 stantion model. Rated for 26'' or 650b out of the box, travel adjust an option, 15mm bolt. They're in Santa Cruz just like Ibis, and the Ibis guys told me they've been working together for awhile. In house customization will be an option.

Probably not available before mid summer, bummer

Thx for the info. Fortunately I have some industry connections that are doing the custom tune on the rear for the XFusion vector air HLR. It will be done by Lopes mechanic who is assisting XFusion in that process. So I won't have the 2013 gold coating yet, but I will have the internal tuning in them. The Vengeance coil is a great fork too. That's what replaced the Bos and that will have a slight mod done to that via. The same person!

Thx for the info. Fortunately I have some industry connections that are doing the custom tune on the rear for the XFusion vector air HLR. It will be done by Lopes mechanic who is assisting XFusion in that process. So I won't have the 2013 gold coating yet, but I will have the internal tuning in them. The Vengeance coil is a great fork too. That's what replaced the Bos and that will have a slight mod done to that via. The same person!

Joe did the work on my Marzocchi fork and rear shock on my HD. He is awesome; you will be well pleased with the outcome.

Marzocchi 55RC3Ti fork and Marzocchi Roco TST air rear shock. Joe (Bikeco) will custom tune your suspension at no additional charge if you buy it from them (and they'll match prices too) Couldn't be happier with how my HD works. Its fun as ****. And its a real custom tune, rebuild, revalve if necessary, shim, some other hocus pocus **** that makes it work amazing. No need to spend the extra money and wait time sending it to PUSH.

What about a Rochshox Lyrik??? Is that a good fork for the Mojo HD? The reason I am asking is that I am working on my build and i have always had good experience with Rockshox forks and the Lyrik has pretty good reputation.

A climb is really just a flat piece of road that points up. A headwind is a climb that you can't see. So it's all flat road, really.

Marzocchi 55RC3Ti fork and Marzocchi Roco TST air rear shock. Joe (Bikeco) will custom tune your suspension at no additional charge if you buy it from them (and they'll match prices too) Couldn't be happier with how my HD works. Its fun as ****. And its a real custom tune, rebuild, revalve if necessary, shim, some other hocus pocus **** that makes it work amazing. No need to spend the extra money and wait time sending it to PUSH.

Awesome to hear, they also recommended the TST air for the HD build they're doing for me this week and I went for it.

A few guys up at Ibis have liked the new Cane Creek shock in the rear. Might pick one up myself.
Not sure why so many people are bashing the New 13 fox fork. It seems pretty nice, and is really silky smooth. In fact I don't think I have felt a smoother feeling fork.

I placed an order with Bos UK for a Vip'r and a Deville. I've had no reply to my email for three days.

The only one mobile number/contact number they have keeps going dead today???

My frame arrived today along with some other complete HD builds. One order was cancelled so I had the Black 2012 Floats from the complete build.

I spoke with Mojo (fox specialists, 20 mins from my house, and they answered every time) and he confirmed the OEM shock is way out for my weight. He has offered a custom revalve, and, can then try the spacing kit if I feel I need it afterwards. They can even tweak my forks for me if necessary????

I am a happy bunny!!! Suits me and my riding style. If I was more DH/gravity orientated I may have considered other options???

Older Lyriks had crappy damper that didn't work well. You couldn't get full travel and get mid-range support at the same time, without doing lot of custom modifications. Plus it leaked on me twice. The new ones with DH damper solve all those problems I believe.

If you want to go a little less travel, Revelations are awesome. Very light and works really well. I haven't had any of the problems I had with older Lyriks. More suited to trail riding than aggressive AM/FR type of riding though.